February 08, 2006

New York Fall / Winter 2006 Wrapup I

OK first of all, thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I had a fabulous time in Cambridge -my friends and I had dinner at a Spanish restaurant and partied at the student club. The six of us managed to fit into my friend's dorm room, and we ended up talking about religion and environment at 4am! Must have been the intellectual environment at Cambridge!

Anyways, I've been a bit behind with Fashion Week. I've looked through most of the photos, and must say I'm so far disappointed. Many of the collections were unflattering, or of murky colors and unappealing fabrics -totally uninspiring.Badgley MischkaThis is one collection I can honestly say I like so far. The cuttings and shapes are beautiful. And the dresses are just gorgeous. It seemed like the collection was an extension to last FW's Russian trend, so I'm not sure if this collection was fashion-foward at all, but at least it was pretty to look at.

Diane von FurstenbergI really liked last season's collection, but this collection was just blah. I mean, I love the theme of Working Girl, but the clothes reminded me more of starting secretaries of the fifties, from the days when it was just ok for women to work. And is it just me or do the models all look sort of weird, like not as pretty as they usually look in other shows?

Marc JacobsOn first glance, the collection is seriously unflattering and just ugly. But give it another chance, and you'll find yourself starting to get into the atmsphere. The color palette continues to be neautral, but darker, murky neautrals. Lots of the clothes had the fabric gather into a knot or just seemingly tucked together. Another top trend is the checker patterns -can't say I'm very enthusiastic about this pattern but will wait to see Europe's take on it before I make up my mind. Sometimes it's the way Jacobs layers the garments that make the show interesting.

Oscar de la RentaBeautiful darling! I can totally picture the rich people of New York walking around in this collection. The daywear looks expensive (which it is of course) and practical. The evening gowns are gorgeous as usual.

I also have not been truly amazed by anything so far (although as you pointed out, the regulars like Oscar obviously succeeded). I am looking forward to the latter half of the shows, especially Micheal Kors today! But I have two additional complaints: 1) the hideous make-up on many a catwalks, most noteably the overly cloudy, sunken eyes, and 2) Not enough Gemma Ward on the walks!

for the most part the collections aren't too exciting, though that's not to say that there haven't been some really good ones and some standout pieces. that's why i like marc jacobs. he's always unpredictably up to something different.